There is an ever increasing demand for deploying and using device to device communications networks as more devices are produced to include communications capabilities, e.g., with multiple alternative interfaces, and new applications are offered. In addition, there are benefits in terms of cost, interference, and/or security to keeping signaling local and operating at low power levels. Therefore, a communications device may desire to communicate using device to device signaling wherever possible. There may be alternative potential gateways, e.g., with different quality metrics, in a local area that a communications device may be able to use to access an infrastructure network, e.g. cellular network. It would be beneficial for a communications device to be able to quickly and efficiently locate a currently best device to device communications path to the infrastructure network.
Because of the dynamic nature of many device to device networks and the uncertainty of number of potential communications devices that may be operating a local area at a given time, efficiently determining routing can be problematic, e.g., as communications devices move and communications devices may change their operational status. It is desirable to limit the time and energy that a communication device needs to expend on searching for information used to establish and maintain a communications path.
In view of the above it should be appreciated that there is a need for improved methods and/or apparatus relating to signaling used for initiating or establishing a communications path, and/or methods and apparatus for communications path establishment and/or maintenance.